@article{ref1,
title="Fatal self-induced hyperinsulinaemia: a delayed post-mortem analytical detection",
journal="Medicine, science, and the law",
year="1992",
author="Patel, F.",
volume="32",
number="2",
pages="151-159",
abstract="The inconspicuous number of cases of self-induced hyperinsulinaemia reported in the literature may suggest that many are obscure enough to escape their detection. A case of fatal suicidal hyperinsulinaemia in a non-diabetic is reported here, and in whom only a retrospective biochemical analysis provided an explanatory cause of death. A quantitative radioimmuno assay (RIA) estimation of the refrigerated postmortem blood sample stored at 4 degrees C for three weeks gave a positive insulin yield. It reiterates the need, in forensic cases, for a very low threshold of suspicion and a good back-up for the appropriate body fluid analysis or tissue microexamination, especially when full details of the circumstances surrounding the death are not available at the autopsy. A brief résumé on insulin is presented as a background to the current forensic interest in the apparent increase in sudden deaths in young diabetics amidst the controversy about the bio-designed 'human' insulin and subjective unawareness of severe hypoglycaemia.<p /> <p>Language: en</p>",
language="en",
issn="0025-8024",
doi="",
url="http://dx.doi.org/"
}